The Albatros D.II was the aircraft that the Red
Baron scored his first “confirmed victory”.It was also the aircraft that Oswald Boelcke used
when he first put his eight rules of aerial combat known as the Boelcke Dicta
into implementation in the Jasta system.In short the Albatros series was arguably the most
influential German aircraft type of the First World War.

The Albatros series of fighters were
the most numerous of all German fighters.In other words they were the backbone of the German
Army Air Service.Virtually all German Aces flew Albatros aircraft and
achieved victories in them.Manfred von Richthofen the infamous Red Baron
himself scored the better part of his victories in Albatros aircraft.His score in the Fokker Dr.I was virtually the same
as his score in the Halberstadt D.II.

From the first day it arrived at the
front-line airfields these aircraft fought for the sky over Central Powers
troops until the armistice.From Palestine across Russia, all the way to the
Baltic Sea in the east, from Italy to the North Sea in the west and everywhere
in between, Albatros pilots scored victories over virtually every type of
aircraft the allies were able to field in the war.

The Albatros was not the best fighter
to come out of the war.Better Allied and Central Powers aircraft overtook
it.For most of its service life, it comprised close to half of
all German front line fighters.

THE KIT

All the injected parts are the Roden
Albatros D.I.What Encore has done is to include parts to build the D.II.In fact one of my parts trees still has Roden
monogram on it.The others have a blank tab where the monogram used
to be.

Now I think if you have read any of
my other reviews on the Roden kits, the 1/32 Albatros D.III
early in particular, you will know that I think they are a little bit fiddly.I also think that they are somewhat expensive for
what you get.Lastly I am not a fan of their decals to say the least.

The MSRP on this kit is $69.99.Basically $5.00 more than the standard Roden 1/32
scale kit. So
just what are you getting for your money, and is it a good value?

After you get this box open, I say
that because mine was a very tight fit.You will find that the fore mentioned plastic parts
are, yes as you can see, a Roden Albatros D.I.So I think it will have the same fiddly points that
Roden kits are known for.Remember that most kits at some point will become
fiddly either by design or builder.

So instead of focusing on the plastic,
lets take a close look at the new bits.First the resin engine, the 160hp Mercedes D.III.WOW oh boy oh boy, this thing is without a doubt one
of the best models of this engine I have ever seen in any scale, period.
Seventeen of the finest resin parts available build up into this little work of
art.To be honest with you, the only real problem that I had
with the old kit engine was that it didn’t have the distinctive oil reservoir on
the front of the camshaft.You really have to see this thing to believe it.

Next is the figure of Oswald Boelcke,
The man who is credited with being the father of aircombat.The quality of this figure is exquisite.Right down to the buttons and pilots badge on his
uniform.I think that a figure this nice would cost at least $20.00
if you got it separately.

Now, let’s look at the photo-etched
parts.Two beautiful frets, one in color, that I would have to say
were made by Eduard since they look like they are an Eduard product and they
state that they were “made in the Czech Republic”.Seatbelts, machine gun shrouds, wing radiator and
instruments are but a few of the parts included in these frets.

To build the D.II you will use the
splayed out cabains of the D.III instead of
the A frame of the D.I.This lowers the main wing.To accommodate this, the people at Encore include
four cast white metal interplane struts.I really like this since one of the laments that
I’ve heard from modelers of the D.III
was that the struts were kind of delicate.The metal struts will really add strength to the
kit.

The decals, well they are by
AeroMaster and they look great.They are printed spot on and come with everything to
build either a mount flown by Oswald Boelcke, his famous D.386/16 or the
aircraft that Manfred von Richthofen flew for his first sixteen victories,
D.491/16.Some references say that this aircraft’s D number was
actually D.481/16 so as a nice touch Encore has included this decal.I tested a decal that I will not be using and it
responded excellently to decal solvent and adhered like a coat of paint

The instructions are very nicely done
in color and on glossy paper. Sixteen pages eight leafs packed with twenty-five
assembly steps, a photo-etch assembly guide, Instructions for the resin Mercedes
D.II engine (did I tell you how nice this engine is), rigging diagrams, painting
diagrams and a figure painting guide. Oh, and on the last page is a copy of the
Dicta Boelcke that is suitable for framing if you so deem.

CONCLUSIONS

Well the kit has a MSRP of $69.99.The extra resin engine, figure and photo-etch are
worth $20.00 each if they are worth a dime, that’s $60.00 if you got them all
separately.So as I see it you get a box full of bargain with this one.I hope the folks at Encore Models will continue to
do this kind of thing in the future.

I do highly recommend this kit for anyone with moderate
experience and especially anyone who wants a bargain.

In fact I think that I’ll go down to my local hobby shop and
get another one before people realize what a good deal this is and they’ll all
be gone.

REFERENCES

“Albatros Fighters” Windsock Datafile
Special

“Albatros Aces of World War I” Osprey
Publishing

“Albatros Fighters in Action #46”
Squadron/Signal Publications

“Jane’s All the Worlds Aircraft 1919” (Jane’s Fighting
Aircraft of World War I)